CommVault Does It All

CommVault has overhauled its flagship data management software and given it a new name.

Simpana 7.0, formerly called QiNetix, now includes features such as single-instance storage, security and encryption, and search, discovery, indexing and classification, along with a Web-based interface for users to access all that unified data. The services can be performed before or after backup processes to save space or time.

The release is the biggest in company history, 18 months in development, according to Dave West, CommVault's marketing and business development vice president. CommVault boasts nearly 6,000 customers, thanks in part to partnerships with HDS, Dell and Network Appliance. The company grew sales by 37 percent last year to $151 million, in part by taking market share from rivals, as its message of "managing data under one unified platform" catches on with customers, said West.

The new release is free for current customers with valid maintenance contracts, although they would have to pay a fee for any new features they want to add.

Simpana creates a virtual information pool of searchable content from files, e-mails and attachments stored across separate backup, archive and online data sets, and the new Web-based interface makes that data pool useful for e-discovery, compliance and business purposes, said West.

CommVault's Single Instance Store (SIS) differs from data de-duplication by working on the file level instead of the block level, for a finer-grained approach to eliminating duplicate data. SIS can be hosted on any disk library, the company says.

The latest release also includes expanded security and encryption capabilities, such as Microsoft Active Directory integration, Single Sign-On authentication and broader data encryption to include popular ciphers such as the AES-256 standard.